


Life, as it is

by hinalii



Category: Boardwalk Empire
Genre: Established Relationship, Gen, M/M, Meyer & Benny & Charlie & Bambi are a family, Meyer & Benny & Charlie are a family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28391736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hinalii/pseuds/hinalii
Summary: What if Charlie got Bambi waaay before in his life? Like, say, in his late 20s, or early 30s...So Charlie brings the dog home and Meyer is annoyed cause "I want nothing to do with that,Charlie, listen to me very well". And then we can all see where this is going.Each chapter is a short scene of the life of three gangsters who adopt a dog, or rather, one gangster who adopts a dog, one who ends up living with it and one who finds the whole deal absolutely hilarious.
Relationships: Meyer Lansky & Lucky Luciano & Benny "Bugsy" Siegel, Meyer Lansky/Lucky Luciano
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. I.

**Author's Note:**

> There are four scenes, not in chronological order but the order doesn't matter, however the correct order would be: 1,2,4,3.  
> Bambi’s name is in italics in Charlie's speech because he is said to pronounce Bambi’s name as _Bombi_.
> 
> Disclaimer: my work is entirely inspired by the characters depicted in the show, the only connection to real events is the presence of Bambi, who, in real life, Charlie adopted after his exile in Italy.
> 
> English is not my first language so all mistakes are mine.

Meyer sits in his chair with a heavy sigh. He lights himself a cigarette, reaching to rub his fingers on his temple: there’s always something, isn’t there? Benny just escorted their guests out of the office: there’s a discrepancy in some book entries from last week, now Meyer will have to go over them again, find the problem, explain it to AR and find a way to solve it. Sounds like another long night.

It’s dark already, he should send Benny home. He’ll grab something to eat and head home himself, he’ll go over the books then. He hasn’t seen Charlie all day, he thinks, he went out in the morning running an errand for AR but he hasn’t heard from him since, Meyer hopes nothing’s wrong, he can’t deal with anymore of that today.

Benny comes back and they end up at Meyer’s where they eat in companionable silence, Meyer enjoys silence after a long day spent listening to people and their problems. Benny is loud and obnoxious but he gets things, he likes being loud and silly because that’s him but sometimes, when it’s just them, he can be quiet and calm and soothing and that’s him too.

‘’Hey Benny, have you seen Charlie today?’’

Benny sits up from where he’s sitting tipping his chair back against the wall.

‘’Nu-hu. Ain’t he with AR?’’

Meyer nods. ‘’Yes, he is’’.

Meyer lights a cigarette and Benny’s licking his fingertips like the child he is, at the sight Meyer huffs out a laugh. The door to the flat swings open just then and Charlie comes in holding something close to his chest.

‘’Heeeey Charlie, Meyer was starting to get worried!’’ Benny shouts in Charlie’s direction, who grins back at him.

At the obnoxious ’Benny’ noise the thing in Charlie’s arms stirs and lets out a soft bark. Meyer’s expression immediately sets to ‘exasperation by Charlie’:

‘’What is that, Charlie’’.

Meyer asks with a sigh, even though he knows the answer already, hence the expression. What he’s actually saying is: ’that better not be what I think it is’, and Charlie’s grinning: ’yes! Yes it is’. He goes to show the tiny dog to Meyer:

‘’Meyer look at him!’’

Charlie’s positively gushing at it and Meyer lets out a half sigh, half laugh because he can clearly see where this is headed. Charlie looks so incredibly cute. Happy. They’re going to keep the dog.


	2. II.

‘’So, what’s his name?’’.

Benny is grinning at Charlie, in the hopes he chose something so ridiculously serious he’ll be able to tease him for the rest of EVER. Meyer smiles softly because he knows Benny will never shut up about it and Charlie kind of deserves it, just for getting the dog. Though truth be told, he didn’t oppose it much himself cause it is kind of ridiculous but also kind of adorable, and it makes Charlie happy.

Said dog is currently exploring their office and Charlie is doing the ‘Charlie’ version of blushing, Meyer can tell.

‘’ _Bombi_ ’’ says Charlie, avoiding Benny’s eyes. He did not expect that.

‘’What?’’ Benny asks.

‘’He’s called _Bombi_ ’’ says Charlie impatiently. Benny recovers quickly:

‘’Aw Charlie. You’re such a little girl’’.

‘’Fuck off, Benny’’ Charlie throws back, though there’s no venom in his voice. 

‘’So anyway, can I babysit him?’’.

There’s already an exasperated look on Meyer’s face. Benny ignores it: ‘’It’s not like I’ll let him starve, you know? I’ll feed him and take him for walks and… you know, things you do with your dog.’’

‘’Benny, he needs a responsible adult and you’re not responsible, or an adult’’. Benny feigns a look of hurt at Meyers words and Charlie chuckles. Then Benny resolves to another tactic:

‘’C’mon Meyer, he’ll need someone to take him for walks, or d’you wanna take the risk he pisses on your couch?’’ Charlie snickers a laugh, as if that’s not a very real possibility if they leave a puppy by itself in the flat. Meyer turns to look at Charlie:

‘’If he does, you’ll be sleeping on it cause you won’t be sleeping in our bed, I can assure you that.’’ Benny breaks into a loud laugh, if he so chooses Meyer can be exactly that petty.

‘’Then its settled!’’ Benny claps his hands, grinning widely.


	3. III.

‘’ _Bombi_ shush! You’ll wake Meyer’’. Charlie hisses, closing the door to the bedroom behind him. He prays Meyer didn’t hear them, his sleep is so light, always has been, unlike Charlie himself who can sleep like the dead.

Charlie picks the dog up and walks to the fridge.

‘’Let’s see what we got left, uh?’’. There’s yesterday’s milk, some eggs and little else, they’re going to have to pick up some groceries in the morning. They probably have some whiskey in the cupboard. Charlie considers it, then goes for the milk, Meyer is always scolding him: he’s right, Charlie is drinking too much these days. He pours a bowl for Bambi and chuckles as he watches the dog lapping it up noisily.

He goes to open the window and lights himself a cigarette, the noises of the city and the chilly night air are somewhat soothing. Charlie shivers, he should have brought a blanket from the bed, it’s not even November yet but it feels like it will be a cold winter this year. Charlie doesn’t like winter. He puts the cigarette out and closes the window, Bambi is quietly pawing around the house, maybe the dog picked up Charlie’s habit because he swears he used to sleep a lot more when he first brought him home.

Charlie picks the dog up, it makes a soft noise.

‘’C’mon _Bombi_ , time to get to bed, but ya have to be quiet, we can’t wake Mey, now can we, uh?’’

He speaks in a hushed voice, the voice people in the street use when speaking to babies. The dog doesn’t answer either, he just settles more comfortably into Charlie’s arms, as if he plans on spending some time there. Charlie tries to open the bedroom door as quietly as he possibly can, Meyer is facing away from him, sleeping on his side, he probably rolled over in his sleep or at least Charlie hopes so, if he wakes Meyer he’s going to kick himself, it’s already a miracle if he gets a whole night’s sleep. Charlie resolves to try and let him sleep in in the morning, although god knows how because Meyer seems to have an alarm clock in his brain which wakes him up as the sun rises.

Charlie puts Bambi at the end of the bed and gets into it himself, he draws the covers up as Bambi settles against his calf.


	4. IV.

Meyer unlocks the door to their office. It’s early, too early for Benny, it’s too early for Charlie as well but fuck him and that stupid dog, Meyer is more than a bit annoyed after last night, and the nights before it.

Charlie enters the office, holding Bambi with one hand and a paper bag full of bagels in the other, if he doesn’t hurry up Benny will eat them all, doesn’t matter how many Charlie buys every morning. They decided to take Bambi to the office with them during the day because, as it turns out, it’s a bad idea to leave a puppy by itself in your flat, even if it’s just for a few hours, as it will pee on the carpet and scratch everything solid and chew on everything soft: they’ve quickly learned that lesson.

Tonight though there will be a change: Meyer is tired and since Benny offered, he’s going to play babysitter because just for one night Meyer would like to fuck Charlie and not hear the whimpers of the dog left alone in the other room, which wouldn’t happen if Charlie could have had the dog sleep in the kitchen and not on their fucking bed. Meyer knew he’d regret it. His train of thought is interrupted as Benny barges into the office, Bambi jumping up to go and greet the newcomer. Well, it’s good that Bambi is so fond of Benny.

“Hey guys!” Benny crouches down to pet Bambi.

“Good morning, Benny” says Meyer. He makes a face when Benny takes off his coat and throws it carelessly on the couch, but says nothing. Predictably Benny goes straight for the bagels and Charlie steals his last one before it’s too late.

Benny breaks off a small bit of his bagel and feeds it to Bambi, who runs behind the couch with it.

“Hey Benny, can you take _Bombi_ tonight?” Charlie asks suddenly.

Benny turns around frowning: “huh?”

“Charlie meant to ask if you can take care of Bambi tonight, Benny. If you haven’t got previous engagements that is.” Meyer steps in and Charlie, chewing his bagel, nods silently at his words.

“Mmh. Yeah, sure.” Benny answers with a shrug, turning his attention back to his breakfast.

Benny finishes his second bagel then goes over to the couch to pick Bambi up and pet him.

“Looks like your dads are planning a nice evening to themselves, huh?” says Benny to the dog, who in response tries to lick his nose.

Charlie just rolls his eyes and goes back to his own breakfast.


End file.
